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Kamogawa Genji
Genji Kamogawa(鴨川源二, Kamogawa Genji) is a tritagonist character in Hajime no Ippo. He is a long old retired prize-fighter boxer who founded the Kamogawa Boxing Gym years later after retiring. He acts as the main trainer of both students of his, Takamura Mamoru and Makunouchi Ippo, as well as a cornerman for the boxers under Shinoda Tomoyuki. His surname is Kamogawa. In Japan, surnames are listed before given names. Background After the War Arc Kamogawa worked as a prizefighter in Japan shortly after the end of the Second World War. He has had multiple boxing matches with former prizefighter Nekota Ginpachi, two of which he lost, two of which he won, and another that ended a draw. He was also friends with fellow prizefighter and future trainer Hama Dankichi. During the American occupation of Japan, Kamogawa harboured strong feelings of national pride, refusing to accept food handouts. Kamogawa witnessed American sergeant Ralph Anderson easily defeat Hama in an exhibition match. After Hama's loss, Anderson terrorised the population and chased Yuki into the alleys. Here, Kamogawa experienced the power of American boxing first-hand as he and Nekota were beaten up by Anderson while protecting Yuki. After seeing Anderson's clinical jabs and being hit by a Cross Counter, Kamogawa acknowledged that American boxing was at least a hundred years ahead of Japanese prizefighting. It was also here that he encountered Miguel Zale, a soldier and second to Anderson. During this time, Yuki and Nekota moved into Kamogawa's makeshift home. Yuki looked after the pair while they trained, inspired by their commitment to rebuilding the country through their fighting spirit. However, Kamogawa discovered that Yuki was a survivor from Hiroshima, who was dying from radiation poisoning. Although Kamogawa's pride was hurt, he was aware of the gap between Japanese prizefighting and American boxing, and declined to challenge Anderson on the basis that true boxers fight against their own weight division, and as a bantamweight, Kamogawa was no match for Anderson. However, Nekota secretly arranged a fight with Anderson. Kamogawa furiously rushed to the match after realising Nekota had been brain-damaged after their last fight together. Despite Nekota's superior speed, he was crippled by an illegal Rabbit Punch and was severely beaten before Kamogawa interfered and stopped the match. Swearing to avenge Nekota, Kamogawa trained by punching a log into an embankment, honing his fists into a deadly weapon. In the match against Anderson, Kamogawa was outclassed and unable to land a clean hit. Through the strength of his spirit and Nekota's desperate encouragement, Kamogawa absorbs Anderson's chopping right and lands two deadly body blows, breaking his ribs and puncturing his internal organs. Despite defeating Ralph, Kamogawa broke both his fists in the process, which ended his career thereafter. With Nekota retreating to his mountain home to recover, Kamogawa put aside the feelings between himself and Yuki and dedicated his life to passing on his passion for boxing. Sometime later, Kamogawa opened his own boxing gym, where he trained the future manager of the gym Yagi Haruhiko, the then-OPBF Featherweight champion Miyata Senior, and the budding counter specialist Miyata Ichirō. By chance, he encountered Takamura Mamoru and convinced him to enter the world of boxing under his tutorship. Part I Early Days Arc One day, Takamura Mamoru brought over a newcomer named Makunouchi Ippo. Kamogawa was sceptical about the idea of Ippo becoming a professional, due to his appearance and attitude. In order to conclude what his chances were, he decided to have him spar against boxing prodigy Miyata Ichirō. During the spar, Ippo went down several times and was unable to land a single hit on Miyata before losing via knockout. However, his durability, stamina and determination, earned Kamogawa's respect and a membership to his gym. Kamogawa decided to supervise Ippo's training personally (which he did for no one other than Takamura) and announced that he would have a rematch against Miyata. During the months leading up to the rematch, Kamogawa taught Ippo how to perform an uppercut, and put him through intensive training in order to directly face the counter instead of avoiding it. In an attempt to have both aspiring boxers motivated, he instigated a rivalry between them, by constantly making comments about Ippo's growth. Kamogawa is Ippo's second on his second spar with Miyata. After Ippo won, Kamogawa had to hide his excitement. Kamogawa is impressed after receiving a picture of Ippo hitting the tip of Miyata's jaw from Fujii Minoru. As Ippo "lost his goal" after sparring with Miyata, he no longer showed his punching power while mitt training with Kamogawa, seeing this, Kamogawa ordered him to train with Takamura in order to understand the hardships of the sport. Kamogawa is Takamura's second in his match against Hirano Kazuhiko, where Takamura wins and gets ranked first in Japan. Kamogawa announces that Ippo's opponent for his pro debut is Oda Yūsuke. In the match against Oda, Kamogawa avoided a doctor stoppage by applying ice and lotion to Ippo's cut allowing him to continue the fight which he ultimately won via knockout. After Ippo won, Kamogawa silently walked away and left Ippo and the others money to celebrate. Kamogawa begins to teach Ippo the Peek-a-Boo Style in order to heighten his defence. Kamogawa announces Ippo's second opponent is Fujiwara Yoshio and states even with a one win and one loss record, anything can happen in boxing. Before the match begins, Kamogawa tells Ippo to do as practice and there will be no problem. After Ippo's win, Kamogawa congratulates him on his victory, while laughing at Ippo's bump on his head. Rookie King Tournament: First Rounder Arc After Jason Ozuma is revealed as Ippo's first opponent at the East Japan Rookie King Tournament and hearing about how he put his sparring partner in the hospital with a hook, Kamogawa decides to have Takamura train Ippo to dodge hooks. On the day of the match after round one, Kamogawa told Ippo that his punches are getting to Ozuma and to not show pain in his face. After Ippo's down in round two, Kamogawa helped him get up by yelling. Kamogawa notices the training paid off as Ippo wins his match. As Kamogawa watches tapes of Kobashi Kenta and Hayami Ryuuichi's matches, he states that Ippo now has two obstacles to pass to get to Miyata. Ippo's match against Kobashi begins, Kamogawa acts as Ippo's second. Kamogawa noticed how bad Ippo is sweating during the match and how they both fell into Kobashi's trap. However, after Ippo found a chance for a hit, he and Kamogawa won. Kamogawa acted as Takamura's cornerman during his Japanese middleweight champion title match against Yajima Yoshiaki. After Takamura's win and winning the JBC middleweight champion belt, Kamogawa and the others celebrated. Rookie King Tournament: Finals Arc Kamogawa shows Ippo a recording of Hayami's match, showing Ippo's original plan was not going to work. Kamogawa states that in order to defeat Hayami, let him use the Shotgun and then attack while he is exhausted, Kamogawa then puts Ippo on defensive training. After Ippo states he wants to learn how to throw a counter when Hayami uses his uppercut, Kamogawa starts training Ippo for counters. On the day of the match, before Ippo is about to fight, Kamogawa states to use the counter only once. Kamogawa, with Ippo wins the match against Hayami. After Ippo damages his fist, Kamogawa states not to use it for two weeks. Kamogawa explains Mashiba Ryō's weakness in his Hitman Style, which is his left guard always being down. On the day of the match, Kamogawa states to keep the match an in-fight in order to keep close to him. At the end, Kamogawa is proud of Ippo winning the tournament. All Japan Rookie King Tournament: Rocky of Naniwa Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Two Rookie Kings Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Class A Tournament: The Speed Star Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Class A Tournament: The Red Wolf Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Heartbroken Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Road Back Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Mountain Training Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Lallapallooza Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Execution Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. First Step Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Bloody Cross Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Revenge Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Proof of Power Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Battle of Hawk Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Part II Submarine Wars Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Comic Show Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Dragon Slayer Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. A Passing Point Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. The Spirit of a Weed Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Siege Card Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Phantom Card Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Veteran Card Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Chaos Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Seiken Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Scratch Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Winner Takes All Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Red Lightning Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. In The Jungle Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Blind Step Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Speed Zone Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Proud Wolf Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Go to the World Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Battle of the Beasts Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Unseen Heights Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. 10 Months in the Making Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Part III Second Step Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Taihei Arc Kamogawa makes an appearance in this arc. Match History Appearance Kamogawa.gif|Kamogawa's appearance Kamogawa2 bg.gif|Kamogawa's younger appearance In his youth, Kamogawa sported messy, dark-brown, hair and a muscular physique. He also had a very rigid face structure, with a bulky isometric nose and large eye-brows. This refined jawline is less prevalent in his older years. In his twilight years, Kamogawa is partially bald with grey hair residing on the sides of his head, as well as an unusual small clockwise spiral of hair above his forehead. His age also leaves him often walking with a brown wooden cane. His attire at his gym and during matches usually consists of a white long or short-sleeved shirt with a small "KBG" in black letters on the front in the top-right corner, and "Kamogawa Boxing Gym" in big black letters on the back along with black pants and shoes. Sometimes outside the gym, he wears a brown suit with a red tie, brown fedora, pants and shoes. Sometimes during matches he wears a navy blue long-sleeved shirt with "Dynamic Glove" in big white letters on the front, black pants and red shoes. Personality Kamogawa is fairly stubborn, stoic, and introspective, rarely displaying his emotions outwardly. He is deeply passionate about boxing as a sport and takes great pride in his boxers success. Despite this, he is prudish and does not tolerate indecency and debauchery, disciplining his disciples with his cane when they step out of line. He only yells at people who he has hopes for and deems dependable''Hajime no Ippo'' Chapter 14, page 18.. He is repeatedly proud of Takamura and Ippo, though he rarely expresses it. It is Ippo who he regards as his "last son". He seeks to raise a world champion whose boxing is principled on fighting spirit, not just talent or skill. Abilities Back in his prime days as a Bantamweight, Kamogawa was a right-handed hard fighter. Nekota once stated that Kamogawa's right and left hasn't faded in his old age, implying that Kamogawa used both Southpaw and Orthodox Boxing Styles. He invented Tekken, a destructive body blow which leaves an imprint of a fist behind. He possesses a stubborn and unyielding fighting spirit, which he seeks to pass down to a successor in the hopes of challenging the world. His strong willpower allows him to continue fighting even the toughest of opponents. Intelligence Kamogawa has vast intelligence in boxing, knowing many techniques, styles, and boxers from the real world. He is able to quickly recognise many techniques as a boxer is using them, such as when he saw Ippo's Dempsey Roll for the first time. His boxing knowledge allows him to quickly come up with strategies to counter an opponent before and during matches for his boxers. Gallery Manga Scenes= Nekota and Kamogawa as pilots.png Young Kamogawa and Young Nekota.png|Young Nekota and Young Kamogawa Kamogawa challenging Anderson.png|Kamogawa challenging Anderson Kamogawa's Revenge.png|Kamogawa wanting revenge Kamogawa's log training.png|Forging Tekken Kamogawa's Tekken 2.png|Log drilled into the ground Nekota and Yuki leaving.png|Nekota and Yuki leaving Kamogawa watching train leave.png|Kamogawa watching the train leave Kamogawa vs Anderson - 01.png Kamogawa vs Anderson - Body blow 2.png|Kamogawa landing another body blow Kamogawa vs Anderson - 20.png|Zale declares Kamogawa winner Kamogawa looking out.png Kamogawa spirit slap Ippo.png Kamogawa's Spirit Slap.png Kamogawa giving Ippo a hand.png Kamogawa mitts.png|Takamura imaging Kamogawa during the Eagle match Logs in the ground.png|Kamogawa noticing the logs in the ground Ippo mitt training with Kamogawa 2.png Ippo mitt training with Kamogawa 1.png Ippo mitt training with Kamogawa.png Kamogawa Round 1240.png KamogawaCoachTraining1166.png|Kamogawa performs mitt training with swinging logs in the wilderness. |-| Anime Scenes= Quotes *''"I expected someone who could become a pro because you recruited him, but what is that? I don't feel any fighting spirit!"'' - To Takamura the first time Ippo joined the gym *''"Not everyone who works hard is rewarded. But! All those who succeed have worked hard!"'' - To Takamura before his fight with Bryan Hawk Trivia *Kamogawa has been seen only once smoking a cigar in the series. Hajime no Ippo Chapter 4, page 16. *As of Chapter 1012, Kamogawa is still able to do mitt hitting with Ippo and Takamura consecutively at his old age. References Category:Characters Category:Male characters Category:Characters from Tokyo Category:Characters from Japan Category:Trainers Category:Boxers Category:Retired boxers Category:Post-War Prize Fighters Category:Kamogawa Boxing Gym Category:Bantamweights Category:In Fighters Category:100% Wins by KOs Category:All fights Win by KO